


Mismatch

by alterocentrist



Series: We found love right where we are [2]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Sports
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-21
Updated: 2014-10-21
Packaged: 2018-02-22 00:04:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2487167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alterocentrist/pseuds/alterocentrist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura joins Silas University's women's rugby team. Carmilla cannot decide what she hates the most: the barbaric sport, watching the daytime games with Big Red and the Ginger 'Rents, or the thought of Laura getting injured. But two things are clear: Laura is a badass, and those rugby shorts are doing some delightful things for her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mismatch

“What the frilly hell is _that_?”

Even when she considered all her centuries on earth, Carmilla knew that the sight she woke up to was one for the ages. Laura Hollis - sophomore journalism major, Girlfriend Extraordinaire, and slave to processed sugar - was sitting at her desk, reading the news on her laptop while slurping a lumpy green concoction from a plastic tumbler.

Laura detached her mouth from the straw and examined the contents of the tumbler. “It’s a spinach, kiwifruit and apple smoothie, blended with soy milk,” her eyes glinted as she looked pointedly at Carmilla, “ _real_ soy milk, and protein powder.”

“Yes, I deduced that it was something disgusting, cutie,” Carmilla said. “But why are you drinking it?”

“Danny made it for me. She’s helping me get into some kind of shape before the tryouts for the university women’s rugby team,” Laura replied. She began slurping again. “The spinach gives it a pretty off-putting texture but the taste isn’t that bad. Wanna try?”

“Ugh, no thanks.” Carmilla shook her head at the proffered tumbler. While she stretched, she thought about how peculiar this century’s humans were, with their smoothies - drinking spinach, imagine that! - and… hang on. “Wait, what did you say about Big Red and the women’s rugby team?”

“No, _Danny_ isn’t trying out for the team. She’s too busy with Summer Society and swimming,” Laura clarified in a measured voice. “ _I’m_ trying out.”

“I heard that,” Carmilla said. She glanced at the clock. It was only nine in the morning, which explained why Laura was treating her like an idiot. Or, more accurately, a sleep-deprived, nocturnal vampire. “Why would she be encouraging you towards that _barbaric_ sport anyway? I thought she had made it her personal mission to ensure that you’re always safe.” She enjoyed making fun of Danny’s protectiveness over Laura, especially because: a) Laura’s girlfriend was her, a Badass Vampire, and b) Laura was rather badass herself.

Laura’s expression contorted in annoyance. “Excuse me, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but rugby is not barbaric!” She placed her tumbler on her desk and opened a new tab on her browser. “Come over here, I’ll show you some videos of the Canadian women’s rugby team. It’s kinda hot...”

Carmilla sneered. Her barb about Danny had gone unchallenged, which was a first worth celebrating. She got out of bed. “You have fun watching. I’m gonna shower.” She regarded the green beverage one last time as she walked past Laura’s desk. “And if you really want to get in shape, I’m not sure that a smoothie would do it for you, buttercup, no matter what _Danny_ says.”

It wasn’t until she had closed the bathroom door when Laura launched an indignant retort: “You won’t be getting a good morning kiss if you keep being unsupportive! And stop being mean about Danny!”

Carmilla sighed. Of course she would never get away with that.

* * *

Carmilla could hear their voices as they walked down the hallway. She was on Laura’s bed, leaning against her yellow pillow as she unwound from her lectures that day. She put down the book she was reading to concentrate on the conversation between her girlfriend and Big Red.

“I can’t believe I did it!” she heard Laura say. “And in the running for the first fifteen, too!”

“Well, I believed in you all the way,” Danny said, which made Carmilla roll her eyes. And just when she thought there wasn’t any eye further left to roll, the redhead added, “You were _amazing_.”

Laura opened the door. “Thanks for walking me back,” she told Danny as she stepped into the room.

“My pleasure.”

Barf.

Danny poked her ginger head into the room. “Hey, Carmilla, how you doing?” she asked.

Carmilla half-saluted at her. “Hey, Danny,” she drawled.

“All right, I’m going,” Danny said to Laura. “Text me when you’re free to hang. Bye.” She left in her typical whoosh of sunny grin and ponytail.

Laura closed the door and immediately jumped on her bed, giving Carmilla the biggest kiss on the cheek. “Babe, guess what?” she asked excitedly.

“You got chosen to play for the rugby team.”

“What?” Laura deflated a little as she realised. “That darn super hearing of yours,” she said, pouting.

“Aw, buttercup,” Carmilla used a finger under Laura’s chin to bring her face closer to hers. She took her time kissing the shorter woman, smirking against her lips when she sighed dreamily. “Congratulations for making the team, love. I’m proud of you. Truly.”

“So are you gonna come watch my games?” Laura asked.

Carmilla considered it. Her first encounter with rugby union was just years after its birth in England, and she always thought it was an excuse for well-bred young men to act like brutes. She could not believe that the sport had become relatively popular in Canada in recent years, but perhaps she should not be surprised, as this was the nation obsessed with ice hockey, that _other_ barbaric sport. She licked her lips. “These games are usually in the daytime, right? You know how my skin gets that time of day.”

“Don’t give me that crap, Carm,” Laura said. “It’s almost winter, you’re always in jeans and a jacket. Wear a hat or something!”

“Why do you want me to go anyway? Won’t Big Red and the Ginger 'Rents be there?”

Laura crossed her arms. “Because you’re my girlfriend! Has it ever occurred to you that I might want you to be at my games because I love the idea of you cheering me on?”

“But I never really enjoyed rugby. I told you, it’s barbaric.” Her nose involuntarily wrinkled upon the recollection of the Oxford men grunting as they slammed into each other on the field. “I’m not sure that I find the idea of you being knocked around by other people fun, buttercup.”

“You know I can handle myself. Sometimes you’re just as bad as Danny, you know that?”

Carmilla knew that. But her mouth remained shut.

“You don’t even want to try?” Laura looked at her imploringly. “Please, Carm. I haven’t played since I was in middle school, and that wasn’t even the real deal. This means a lot to me. Please?”

Carmilla sighed. She found it hard to refuse Laura’s requests, especially when she emphasised how important it was to her. But she genuinely hated rugby. She looked at Laura’s sweet face and decided that she should just get over it  “All right,” she finally said. “One game, and do not do your pouty face or your bunchy face at me if I don’t look like I’m having fun.”

Laura threw her arms around Carmilla’s neck and peppered her face with kisses, before saying, “By the way, I _do not_ have a pouty or a bunchy face.”

* * *

Twice a week, after she had finished classes and before she went hunting in the woods, Carmilla would stop by the Silas University fields to watch the women’s rugby team train. She would, more often than not, catch the tail-end of their training. The athletes would participate in laid-back passing drills or jog around the field. She hadn’t seen anyone crash into each other just yet.

And Laura, in her bouncy ponytail and cute shorts, would jog over to her and launch herself in an embrace. “Did I mention what those shorts are doing for you, cutie?” Carmilla would tease. She would resist the urge to cop a feel until they were back in the privacy of their dorm room.

Laura hugged her that afternoon, and she gratefully breathed in the scents of grass and sweat on Laura’s neck. After waving goodbye to her teammates, the shorter woman intertwined her fingers with Carmilla’s and they’d stroll back to the residence halls. “So, my first game is this Saturday,” she said. “Are you excited?”

Carmilla was still not excited at the thought of watching her tiny girlfriend being tackled by some gigantic toddler. But she would rather be there than having to visit her at the campus hospital afterwards. “Yes, I’m looking forward to it, love,” she said. “Perhaps we should celebrate after the game. I could take you out to have pizza and ice cream in town.”

“Yeah, sure,” Laura agreed. She smiled coyly at the vampire. “You’d still take me out even if we lost or even if I looked like I’d just been in a bar fight?”

Carmilla shuddered. Yes, perhaps she was as bad as Big Red. “Of course I will,” she said. She let go of Laura’s hand to wrap her arm around the shorter woman’s shoulders instead. “Win or lose, love.”

She knew it was just a sport, but it would take great effort to stop herself from pummelling anyone who dared to touch Laura.

* * *

“LET’S GO SILAS! WHUP THEIR ASSES!”

“ _LaFontaine_!”

Carmilla snorted at the Ginger 'Rents. She got up this morning - way too early for her - and wore the clothes that Laura had picked out for her: a coat, gloves and a wide-brimmed hat with her usual jeans and top. She chose to sit next to them (and Big Red) for Laura’s rugby game, and surprisingly, she found herself enjoying it. She was never one for obnoxious displays of support during sporting events, so she was glad that her companions compensated for that, for Laura’s sake.

“What’s the score again?” Danny was on the edge of her seat, leaning forward on her elbows.

Carmilla squinted at the scoreboard from across the bleachers they were seated on. “Fourteen-ten, to the other team,” she told her.

“God. And there’s only five minutes left.”

LaFontaine turned to the taller redhead. “It should be okay. They’ll turn it around.”

“It’s just the beginning of the season,” Carmilla said. “I don’t know why we need to be so hungry for a victory for this first game. Are we going to be eliminated from the rest of the competition if we lose this one?” She didn’t get a reply. “I didn’t think so.” Winning or losing didn’t matter to her either way. She was just happy that she swallowed her pride and turned up, because Laura had played excellently. That was the reason she was here, after all.

LaFontaine and Danny glared at her.

“For once, I agree with Carmilla,” Perry said. She gave the vampire a tight smile. “Not everything should be about winning.”

“ _Sport_ is about winning, Perry!” LaFontaine insisted.

Carmilla leaned back on the bleachers and amused herself with the sounds of bickering from the redheads. But then a crimson blur on the field crossed her sight line. “Wait a minute, is that Laura?” she asked. “Hey, you toddlers.” She lightly shoved a still-talking Danny to get her attention. “Laura is chasing someone!”

Danny turned her attention to the field. “Oh my god, she is.” Her eyes widened when she figured out who Laura was chasing. The opponent’s number 6, a solid, broad-shouldered woman who was even taller than Danny, was making a beeline for the try line. “Shit,” she muttered. “Laura! Bad idea!” she yelled out, earning a few glares from the Silas U benchwarmers who had been cheering her on.

“Why is it a bad idea?” LaFontaine asked.

“Have you seen what she’s up against?” Carmilla asked incredulously. It was as if LaFontaine didn’t have eyes sometimes. “Look at that. That is a giant baby. And Laura wants to take her on.”

“ _Giant baby_? Yeah, yeah, we get it, you’re like, five hundred-years-old,” LaFontaine said, rolling their eyes.

Danny was standing up now, body tense, and Carmilla mirrored her. “What the hell is she thinking?” the redhead said, mostly to herself. “This isn’t gonna end well.”

“You know that Laura doesn’t give up easily,” LaFontaine said. “Come hell or highwater.”

“But it’s a total mismatch!” Danny exclaimed. When she was greeted with blank looks, she elaborated: “A mismatch is when a back - which is what Laura is - tries to go one-on-one against a forward - which is what that girl is, or vice-versa. Backs are naturally smaller than forwards, so whatever Laura’s trying to do, it might end a little messy.”

Carmilla swallowed anxiously. The woman that Laura was running after from one end of the pitch to another appeared to be almost twice her size. Why did she have to care about a girl who didn’t know how to quit? She forced herself to sit back down, because if she stayed standing any longer, she would tackle the girl herself.

Laura had caught up to her opponent by now, but she did not stop running. She got to a sufficient distance ahead of her before she turned, arms stretched out and knees braced staunchly. And then she ran into her opponent, arms around her waist, pushing her backwards. The larger woman remained upright until Laura - _tiny Laura!_ \- pivoted, causing the player to stumble and fall backwards, the ball still clutched to her chest.

Carmilla licked her lips at the impressive sight of her girlfriend on the field, who was now calling out to her teammates for backup.

“Yes!” Danny yelled. She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Great tackle, Laura!”

“What’s going on?” Perry asked.

“By making sure that the player she tackled lands on her back, the ball is now fair game,” Danny said. “It’s harder to control who the ball goes to when you’re passing on your back, as opposed to being on your stomach where you can delay a little while waiting for your teammates.”

Sure enough, Laura’s opponent had passed the ball to a waiting teammate. But another Silas U player was already on her in seconds, and possession changed hands. Laura ran with the ball for a while, before passing it to a teammate. Everyone watched as she directed play, making sure that the Silas U players had space to keep advancing the ball.

Merely yards away from the try line, the larger Silas players were in a ruck, fighting to retain possession of the ball. “Shit, two more minutes,” Danny said.

The ball made its way to Laura’s hands, and she deftly sidestepped oncoming tacklers, and then even broke free of an opponent who almost got a grip on her. The opposing team’s attentions focused on her, which left a handful of her teammates open. Carmilla chewed on her thumbnail as she watched Laura finally knocked down, yet suddenly, the ball flew through the air…

… into the hands of a waiting Silas U player, who charged through and slammed it on the grass behind the try line.

“THAT WAS A SPECTACULAR OFFLOAD!” Danny yelled.

Even if she found this obvious display of Wikipedia rote-learning ridiculous, Carmilla jumped to her feet to join Big Red and the Ginger Wives. For the first time in her life, she was screaming as enthusiastically as the other spectators. Laura was on her feet now, her arms wrapped around her try-scoring teammate, with the biggest grin on her face.

Silas U’s number 10 failed to convert the try, but none of that mattered anymore once the referee blew the whistle to conclude the game. By some miracle, they managed to win by one point. The rest of the team gathered around the players on the field, chanting in unison, their faces euphoric.

“Hey!” LaFontaine was looking at her. “Look _who_ cares about winning now,” they jibed.

Usually, Carmilla would have a threat or a retort prepared, but this time, she simply chose to respond with a dismissive sneer. Her thoughts were elsewhere. To be precise, they were with the girl in the Silas U number 9 jersey. Vampires were not telepathic, but Carmilla’s mind reached out for Laura, willing for her to look her way.

And Laura did. She turned away from the team celebrations to search the bleachers. The redheads may say that Laura was looking for all of them, but Carmilla hoped she just wanted her this time. The redheads waved and called out Laura’s name. But when Carmilla and Laura finally locked eyes, the world all but disappeared.

Carmilla got down the bleachers as fast as she could without kicking into vampire speed. She crossed the pitch, and Laura met her halfway. The shorter woman jumped into her arms and kissed her square on the mouth. Carmilla tightened her arms around Laura’s waist, revelled in the feel of fingers tickling the hair at the base of her neck, and soon enough, Laura’s lips made her forget that there were at least a hundred people who could have their eyes on them at this very moment.

Oh, and that she went to a rugby game. And it actually wasn’t that bad.

**Author's Note:**

> I guess this is my New Zealander showing through! I don't usually write fluff so my closest attempt is sure to involve protective Carmilla, badass Laura, googlemouth Danny and bickering LaFerry. (I also managed to write a fic on women's rugby without mentioning how gay the whole thing is, so that's new...)
> 
> NOTE: In rugby, positions are determined by jersey numbers. I mention that Laura is a number 9, which is a scrum-half. All you need to know about it is that they're usually the smallest player on the team and are responsible for keeping the ball in play. Scrum-halfs are also usually pretty tough cookies, having to clash with both forwards and backs over the duration of a game. Perfect for Laura or perfect for Laura? Thought so.
> 
> NOTE 2: Edited accordingly for LaF's canon non-binary identity. Ginger Wives has been changed to Ginger 'Rents, because Laura referred to them as her 'rents and I think Carmilla would pick up on it.


End file.
